Bluesfest 2013 Day Two

After returning home far too late last night I can't quite get my shit together in time to see Ruthie Foster, I've no doubt she blew minds once again though.

By the time I do make it into the festival, it becomes immediately obvious that an enormous number of people have made their way in early. As such, the great Taj Mahal once again plays to a packed tent who lap up his exotic style of blues. Taj plays in trio mode this afternoon, and for three people the sound is mighty powerful and Taj proves he hasn't lost any skill as a bandleader or entertainer since we last saw him; he manages to generate a huge buzz in the Crossroads tent and elicit screams from the thousands before him. The set is full of highlights, but you can't go past the brilliant Going Up To The Country (Gonna Paint My Mailbox Blue).

The decision to have Ben Harper, one of the undisputed rulers of this festival, play a mid-afternoon set away from the festival's mainstage could go either way, but for the most part it works out really well. Sure, the tent is full, but it seems a manageable crowd and passers-by can still see and hear easily. He starts on piano with Trying Not To Fall In Love With You, an unbelievably weak beginning, but things pick up from there; his version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is passable, while a piedmont fingerpicked Steal My Kisses works really well. Excuse Me Mr and Burn One Down bring back some serious memories to those of us who may have lapsed in our appreciation for the artist while Fight Outta You sounds better than ever (seriously) in this environment.

After this afternoon's set it's nigh on impossible to believe that reggae legend Jimmy Cliff is 64 years of age; the guy bounds onstage and jumps, dances, sings and generally moves around a lot for the next 75 minutes, without rest. He also punches out hit after hit after hit, while he might be touring on the back of his new album Rebirth (which is quite good) he knows what the masses want to see. You Can Get It If You Really Want, Children's Bread, The World Is Upside Down, Wonderful World, Beautiful People and Many Rivers To Cross all sounding brilliant. He re-enacts a frightening scene from the 1972 film The Harder They Come before launching into the song of the same name, following that up with “a song [he] sang for Cool Runnings”, I Can See Clearly Now and Rivers Of Babylon.

His unrelenting energy and hit-packed set list make it awfully hard not to groove along with the reggae master, those who remain seated in their chairs must be utterly nuts, and  I also think it's adorable that his whole band wear Jimmy Cliff shirts with his twitter and Facebook page URLs printed on the back of them.

Yes, by this stage it's raining. And it's fucked. But if I let a little rain get me down every time the heavens opened upon Bluesfest then I'd have stopped coming over a decade ago.

A quick dash to Shuggie Otis is in order and tonight it seems like the band are tighter than last night, but Otis seems in a bit of a terse mood. The epic Wings Of Love is a pretty good showcase of Otis' guitar playing and he certainly seems to enjoy it, but it tends to drag a little. On the flipside of that, Strawberry Letter 23 gets the small crowd very excited, but Otis seems somewhat less thrilled to be playing it. Ice Cold Daydream from that same era ends the set in an almighty wash of noise and feedback. I do hope to see Otis and his band back in Australia at some stage in the coming years, his return to music has been a welcome one.

Though the rain pelts down harder than ever, we need to grab the sole chance to see the Steve Miller Band in action, so we squelch through the site and make do with a spot outside the tent to see them launch into the classic Abracadabra. They acknowledge the crowd's hunger for blues and rip through Further On Up The Road, before bringing the great Charlie Musselwhite out on stage to lend his blues harp nous to proceedings.

They go back to 1973 and dig up the Latin flavoured Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma in dedication to the Santana rhythm section, it shows a bit of versatility in the slick, fun outfit and, much as we'd stay if it were dryer, the rain gets the best of me and the prospect of a little more Rodriguez is too appealing.

Playing a very similar set to last night, Rodriguez is again brilliant and tonight is a little more audible as he plays the larger Crossroads stage. Unfortunately the crowd are again rude and disrespectful and it makes you wish they'd try to live their lives a little closer to the way the guy on stage lives his.

The evil sounding slow psychobilly of Tav Falco & Panther Burns is fine, if not a little dull at times. Falco slow-dances with a lady through an early tune, they rip through a pretty decent Lady From Shanghai and Ballad of the Rue de la Lune, but it all just meanders a bit for the casual fan – of which I certainly am one.

Santana has drawn a huge crowd, unsurprisingly, though the celebratory vibes of the Latin flavoured party prog seem to extend only a little way back into the crowd. Perhaps the rain has dampened the spirits of many? Or maybe Santana fans just aren't big dancers. Carlos' tone and the way in which he plays are outstanding and his band are faultless, but it's all a bit soulless from where I stand.

The sound of the Gyuto Monks of Tibet's otherworldly throat singing would be familiar to many a Bluesfest veteran and their voices blare through the PA as the lights go down in preparation for The Break's appearance. They emerge in some pretty great looking space suits and rip through the first song proper from their brand new LP Space Farm as the thunderous Cylinders, the best song from 2010's Church Of The Open Sky follows. For such a bunch of pro musicians, The Break play with a looseness that makes you feel that they just see this as a way to have a whole lot of fun. Midnight Oil tune Wedding Cake Island sounds perfect in this band, and it's still so good to see three members of that band smash through Martin Rotsey's 1980 composition.

Playing the classic surf tune Miserlou is like shooting fish in a barrel for a surf band; as a Professional Music Critic™ I don't much care for it – the band's own songs are good enough – but it gets the crowd going so who am I to argue.

The night ends at the Cavanbah for the Music Maker Blues Revue, though I've somehow managed to completely miss seeing Dr Burt – the artist on the show I was most excited for – so there's a task for tomorrow evening. Albert White is just finishing off a ripping blues tune when I arrive, and Austin's Pat Wilder is called onstage to lay down some of her souldful blues. She leads the band brilliantly, blazes away on the guitar effortlessly and even manages to hold her own in a dance off with a punter mid-solo. Ironing Board Sam is next up, the r'n'b veteran appearing in a brilliant gold, sparkly suit and ripping through a couple of piano driven numbers like Do The Ironing Board. Zydeco master Major Handy closes out the show, keeping hips shaking with his down home style of good time dancing music. A very positive note to end day two on. Plus, we get out of the car park in three minutes flat.

I'm a little nervous about Day Three; it's among the best line up of acts on a single day of Bluesfest we've seen and if it doesn't live up to the unfairly lofty expectations I have for it then I'll crack the shits in a big way.